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"It's an environmental and economic solution to the ash dam issue and the fly ash that is plaguing Port Augusta," he told a public meeting.

"Excuse the pun, but any government that doesn't get behind this project is really as thick as a brick."

Senator Xenophon said it would create 500 jobs in Port Augusta over at least 25 years and deliver billions of dollars to the region.

He said Nu-Rock made a proposal to the SA government in September 2015 but it was not given the attention it deserved.

Port Augusta mayor Sam Johnson said it would be a shame if the innovation didn't get the green light in his city.

"In the United States, there are governments who are enthusiastically supporting this Australian innovation, yet here we seem to be ignoring it," he said.

But Manufacturing Minister Kyam Maher said Nu-Rock had not offered the SA government a business case.

"When they do, the government will look to see if it's financially viable," he told reporters in Adelaide.

Nu-Rock managing director Maroun Rahme said he had tested the ash three years ago and it was viable.

The company uses a patented chemical process to turn the ash into building materials, using about two per cent of the energy that's used in traditional methods because the bricks don't have to be made from scratch.

The response from the frustrated locals was one of enthusiasm.

"So you're suggesting an environmental solution and 26 years of employment?" a man asked, with his question met with applause.

Local woman Nicolette Fitzgerald said that if the government didn't embrace the idea, then "there's something wrong with them".